As the 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) rolls in, the
excitement is more palpable than ever.
If the fans’ excitement was bursting even before the 2019 season matchup
was announced, it’s exploding all over the place now.
The transfers and retention list for the 2019 season were announced in
November 2018 but there have been personnel changes along the way. The
opening match of India during the Cricket World Cup was also postponed. It
was moved from June 2 to June 5 to give way to the mandatory 15-day gap
from when the IPL concluded and the declaration of India as a subsequent
international fixture.
IPL teams
Chennai Super Kings
Kings XI Punjab
Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders
Rajasthan Royals
Mumbai Indians
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Delhi Capitals was previously known as the Delhi Daredevils, and was
renamed on 4 December 2018. During a function, the franchise announced
the new name and released a new logo for the team.
IPL Cricket Major Changes and Surprises
Anyone who’s followed IPL over the course of its 11-year run is no stranger
to the curse that is forever attached to the league. Great names fall hard on
the ground. Unknown players get the upper hand. Huge changes happen and
leave heads rolling in their wake.
The 2019 IPL season is no different. It gives life to the phrase “you win
some, you lose some.”
On 18 December 2018 the player auction was held in Jaipur, where some of
the players were released, while other remained unsold.
Some of the prominent players that were released are:
Gautam Gambhir
Role: Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm legbreak
Yuvraj Singh
Role: Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Left-arm orthodox
Glenn Maxwell
Role: Batting Allrounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm offbreak
Jaydev Unadkat
Role: Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Left-arm fast-medium
Some of the players who remained unsold are:
Cheteshwar Pujara
Role: Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm legbreak
Brendon McCullum
Role: WK-Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Alex Hales
Role: Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm medium
Saurabh Tiwary
Role: Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Bat
Vinay Kumar
Role: Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm fast-medium
Unfortunately for them they will not be playing in the tournament for the
first time since IPL cricket was established.
In the case of Saurabh Tiwary, it’s not a surprise that no one even tried to
buy him. Following his breakthrough season with the Mumbai Indians, his
form simply hit rock bottom when he signed up with the Royal Challengers
Bangalore. And it was downhill from there.
In fact, he was released by Mumbai Indians, which repurchased him in the
2017 auction, because he failed to get a single game in the IPL 2018 edition.
The auction also revealed that:
Jaydev Unadkat is 2018’s costliest Indian player
Varun Chakravarthy shares the distinction with Jaydev Unadkat
Sam Curran is the most expensive among foreign players.
After the IPL auction concluded, IPL cricket betting tips and predictions also
rolled out, giving fans a good idea of which team to put their money on.
Among the eight original franchises, only 3 managed to retain their original
avatars.
Vijay Mallya of the Royal Challengers Bangalore has switched to
England.
T. Venkat Ram Reddy, owner of Deccan Chargers, is experiencing the
threat of insolvency with his company Deccan Chronicle Holdings.
Subroto Roy of Sahara (Pune Warriors) is sentenced to two years in
prison.
Super King, N. Srinivasan lost his grip of BCCI and IC and his infuence
along with it.
Part owner of Rajasthan Royals Raj Kundra and owner of Chennai
Super Kings N. Srinivasan are both penalized for match fixing.
India is 2019 IPL’s playground… hopefully
Amitabh Choudhary, acting secretary of the BCCI said on Monday that the
board is working hard to ensure that all the 2019 IPL matches will take place
in India.
During the IPL auction, Choudhary said, “We are trying our best to ensure
that not a single game is taken out of India.”
Schedule and venue of the IPL have yet to be announced, what with BCCI
awaiting the schedule of the 2019 general elections. The board wants to
avoid the T20 league schedule clashing with that of the general elections.
It won’t be a surprise if this doesn’t happen, however. It is not the first time
that the IPL has to change schedule and venue to give way for the general
elections.
In 2009, the BCCI had to host the IPL tournament in South Africa. In 2014,
it was partially hosted in the UAE. All these are due to the elections.